Enhancing access in theory and practice: A study of graduates of an Israeli large public college in 1995-2003

This paper carefully follows graduates of the largest of Israel's public colleges, their success in their studies at the College, and in their studies towards graduate degrees in institutions of higher education in Israel. It explores who these graduates are, where they came from, their academic success, and where they headed after attaining an undergraduate degree. The aim is to examine the links between graduates' academic success and the preliminary conditions for their admission, that is the socioeconomic background from which they developed and their scholastic achievements prior to admission into the college. The paper cautiously indicates that the College fulfilled its social objective as defined by the Commission for Higher Education's decision to establish a system of colleges alongside the universities. It also points to several patterns typical of graduates of institutions of higher learning in Israel in general, from a broader perspective of academic graduates in the Western world.